Good-bye and good riddance to Tony Hayward, BP's gaffe master: An editorial

BP CEO Tony Hayward should have learned by now that self-absorbed whining doesn't play well to an audience that includes victims of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and a region that's suffering environmental and economic devastation from the resulting oil spill.

Gerald Herbert / The Associated PressTony Hayward will depart from BP's top job.

But Mr. Hayward, who famously said that he wanted his life back, continued in the same vein Tuesday when commenting on his pending departure from the oil company's top job. He told reporters that he had been "demonized and vilified'' because he had become the face of the disaster.

"BP cannot move on in the U.S. with me as its leader ... Life isn't fair,'' he said. "Sometimes you step off the pavement and get hit by a bus.''

Gulf Coast residents certainly know that life isn't fair, and the fishers, oil rig workers and many others who have lost their livelihoods aren't likely to feel much sympathy for an executive who already has another lucrative position, at TNK-BP in Russia. He walks away with a full year's salary and a $900,000-a-year pension.

While Mr. Hayward's departure is being characterized by some analysts as a gesture to appease shareholders, the truth is, Mr. Hayward failed to fulfill his own mandate. He said his goal was to restore confidence in BP after several accidents, including the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15 people, and provide a "laser-like focus'' on safety.

But hearings before a marine board investigative panel show little evidence that safety was paramount. Instead, testimony indicates that BP and rig-operator Transocean ignored the law and serious warning signs at the Deepwater Horizon. Although both firms appeared to have taken shortcuts, BP was in charge, and its engineers repeatedly rejected safer practices, apparently to save time and money.

BP officials should not think that the company can rehabilitate itself simply by moving Mr. Hayward aside. BP must deliver on its promise to make things right in the wake of the spill, from compensating those who've been damaged to cleaning up the environmental mess.

While the gush of oil was finally stopped with a temporary fix in mid-July, BP must still manage to close the well permanently and deal with the damage caused by at least 94 million gallons of crude.

Mr. Hayward called the spill tiny compared to the total volume of the Gulf of Mexico, which he described as a vast ocean. No one will miss remarks like that. But plugging the gaffes is a small matter; making things right is a much more critical mission.